Throughout the Northeast region, a small volunteer-based non-profit dedicates its time and resources to flying sick children, adults, and family members all across the country, to ensure they receive the care they desperately need. This organization is called Angel Flight East, and its services could very well be used to save the lives of loved ones right here in our area.
Angel Flights East marketing director Cathy Brzozowski and executive director Ellen Williams spoke with the Standard to discuss the non-profit and its ties to our local community. “I have visited Woodstock so many times throughout my life, I feel as though I live here. While I split my time between Rhode Island and Vermont, I will always feel called to Woodstock and wish to share this organization with the people of our community,” Brzozowski said.
Currently, Angel Flight East has a fourteen-state footprint from Maine to Virginia, going as far west as Ohio. “We provide free services to any family who needs it. We want residents in southeastern Vermont to know that we exist, and that we are an option,” said Brzozowski.
Mark Thacker, right, pilots a “Compassion Flight” with Debbie McCarthy and her eldest daughter, Sara, en route to be reunited with their daughter/sister receiving treatment for spina bifida at Boston Children’s Hospital. Courtesy of Angel Flight East
Along with flying sick children and adults, Angel Flight East also offers “Compassion Flights,” where they make sure families are never separated from each other. “There was a woman in Upstate New York whose child needed more permanent treatment in Boston, but she had other children to take care of back home. Our pilots made sure to fly Stacy to her sick child every day and then get her home to New York before her other children returned from school,” Williams explained.
Angel Flight East volunteer pilot Mitch VanDutch, of Lebanon, N.H., told the Standard, “I’ve been flying for years, and after a while, I lost my passion, my drive. Flying these families, having an opportunity to help these sick children get the treatment they need, has changed my life in so many ways. There was one time I couldn’t fly a family because of bad weather in the skies, but I had come to know and love these people, and so I rented a van and drove this family from Detroit to Boston. I would make that trip over and over again if need be.”
Angel Flight East is currently hoping to attract more pilots for their cause, especially in rural New England. If you wish to get involved with or use this organization, visit Angel Flight East’s website at angelflighteast.org where you can request a flight or volunteer your services as a pilot.
For more on this, please see our May 15 edition of the Vermont Standard.
